Tear Down the Veil
by Dance Elle Dance
Summary: "Good afternoon," he says, walking to the front of class. "I'll be teaching all of you this semester. I'm Professor Shapiro." And Tori Vega is smitten at first sight. RobbieTori, BeckJade, AndreCat, AU
1. Turning Tables

_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own Victorious._

_**Summary: "Good afternoon," he says, walking to the front of class. "I'll be teaching all of you this semester. I'm Professor Shapiro." And Tori Vega is smitten at first sight. RobbieTori, BeckJade, AndreCat, AU**_

_I really don't know what I'm doing, starting another chapter fic. I've just been really wanting to write a chaptered RobbieTori for some godforsaken reason, and this just…came out. I know it's not a very original plot, but I wanted to try my hand at a Teacher!Robbie and Student!Tori. Chapter's aren't going to be very long, and it will most likely be updated sporadically, but yeah. Hope that's not a huge issue. Title's from a lyric from "Reject Yourself" by Killswitch Engage. Been on a real KE kick lately, lol. Anyway, hope that y'all enjoy this first chapter!_

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><p><strong>Tear Down the Veil<br>****Chapter One: Turning Tables**

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><p>Like every transfer student from a small, tiny college to a large university, Tori Vega is nervous.<p>

Her heart beats quickly, like a hummingbird trapped beneath the cage of bone. The whole place is new to her, large and frightening. Though originally excited about this new move to the larger pool, she now feels intimidated and more alone than ever, despite the fact that her friends are right there with her.

She smiles her way through her classes, though she hurriedly takes notes and wants to scream repeatedly. All of her Monday classes go by well - she only has three - and that is at least a plus.

Tori looks at her schedule and sighs, seeing that she has two classes on Tuesday. It could be worse. The Tuesday-Thursday classes of hers are an hour and fifteen minutes in length, and back to back. She gets to go back to her apartment early, and for that she is grateful. She already has a huge amount of homework, and the short day will allow her some work time.

She wakes up for her nine thirty Statistics class and almost dies - it's more math than she ever expected, and that is one subject she absolutely doesn't get. Tori takes more notes than she has ever taken in her life, and their teacher issues them homework that she will have to do online.

_Great, _she thinks. _Homework online and no laptop._

"How's your classes going, Vega?" Jade asks as she meets her for lunch. It's been a work in progress, but their friendship has met solid ground and for that Tori is grateful.

Tori groans and presses her head against her hands, "Awful."

She can hear the smile in Jade's words, "That's too bad."

Some things never change, Tori supposes.

"Hey, babe," a familiar voice echoes from above her. Her heart skips as she turns to face its owner.

"Danny," she says with a smile. He swoops down and plants a kiss on her forehead. Jade faux-gags in the background until her boyfriend, Beck, sits down beside her and gently tugs on a lock of her blue-and-black amalgamation of hair.

Andre arrives then and takes his spot right beside Tori, and then talks about the latest of many music classes he is taking. Cat follows soon after and they sit beside each other.

Lunch is uneventful. Danny puts his hand into hers and Tori has no choice but to twist her fingers with his. Beck and Jade kiss, and Andre and Cat smile and laugh.

Everything looks picture perfect.

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><p>Tori thinks things might not be so picture perfect when she strolls to her last class of the day. A psychology class that she had saved to take last, just so she could get a bit of reward for doing her best in all her classes, for all her hard work.<p>

She sits down right beside Danny - they had wanted to take this class together. Or, rather, he wanted to join her in her venture. He knew she adored the subject of psychology and found it fascinating and thought that taking it with her would…

Well, she isn't exactly sure what he was thinking when he signed up for Child Psychology with her.

Tori sighs and brings out her notebook and pens, ready to take notes. Out of all the classes she has this semester, this is the one she is most excited about.

Danny sits next to her, just having gotten out of his Botany class, which was halfway across campus. He is breathing heavily, having to have rushed across campus to get there in time. He flops his backpack on the desk next to her and draws out his notebook and pens, making more racket than is necessary. She cringes at the sound as it breaks through the silent auditorium.

They wait, but not for long. Danny was a good two or three minutes shy from being late for class, but the professor is two or three minutes _late_.

Tori finds herself tapping her foot just to have something to do. The whole class is restless, fidgeting as three minutes turn to four and four into five…

And the doors behind her open. Quietly, so quietly that Tori would not have heard if she had not been listening. Footsteps follow. She waits.

They are light footsteps, dainty. The person in question passes her shoulder and makes his way to the front of the room.

"Good afternoon," he says, walking to the front of class. "I'll be teaching all of you this semester. I'm Professor Shapiro."

She takes a moment before she glances upward and watches him as he unloads his laptop and various other things to get ready for the class. He has thin hands, she notes.

Tori studies him. He has a mess of brown hair, dark eyes hidden behind thick-rimmed glasses. A thin build. A sweater covers his spindly frame, and the pants he wears looks like they would fall off had they had not been fastened with a worn looking brown belt. He drops a few things as he tries to fix things around his desk. A few snickers issue from the crowd.

"I apologize for my lateness," he says, and his voice shakes slightly. "First day on the job here." He laughs. "So…"

He starts rambling, makes a Star Wars reference, and then - after some fumbling - he turns on the overhead projector and makes a relieved noise, "There we go! Wouldn't want to have to cancel class, now would we?" he asks, sarcasm evident in his tone.

Professor Shapiro starts going into chapter one of the text, stumbling over his words in his nervousness and laughing at inappropriate times. The class joins in; Tori finds herself being one of those. She tenses out of shock when she feels Danny's hand on her arm. Her eyes don't leave the teacher as her boyfriend speaks.

Danny leans toward her, "What a _dork_."

Tori couldn't disagree more.

Her heart is thundering in her chest, and she can't figure out _why_.

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><p><em><strong>End Chapter One.<strong>_


	2. Always and Never

_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own Victorious._

_I am so happy that I've gotten good responses for this fic! It makes me so happy that people like this fic. I hope that y'all enjoy the second chapter. Oh, just a random little note, chapter titles are song titles. Not original, but they have a purpose. Haha._

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><p><strong>Tear Down the Veil<br>Chapter Two: Always and Never**

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><p>Her reaction is ludicrous.<p>

She doesn't know why, but her hands are shaking. Every nerve ending in her body feels exposed. Tori shifts in her seat, opting to try to take her pencil in hand, but she finds that more difficult than it should be. The writing utensil falls out of her fingers and lands on the paper with a barely audible sound.

At first, she thinks that she is having some kind of attack. A panic attack, perhaps? No, no, that can't be it. Why would that be happening? She breathes slowly through her nose and out through her mouth. Someone told her once that doing that helps calm nerves. But what…_what _is she having this reaction for?

She wrinkles her nose and tries to persevere.

Persevere from _what _is a whole other story.

Professor Shapiro sets up the powerpoint slides and starts in on chapter one, attacking it vigorously. He stutters a bit, and makes a few jokes. Funny ones, in fact. That's a rarity in itself. A teacher that doesn't take himself too seriously and makes a few self-deprecating jokes. It makes her smile brighter than she ever remembered doing before.

Tori finds that she is tapping her foot. The rhythmic sound, frantic and uncontrollable, serves to aggravate Danny, who places a hand over hers.

"What?" she asks, breathless. Startled.

"Stop," he replies. "You're freaking me out."

Tori furrows her brow. "How would that freak you out?"

Danny doesn't reply, only gives her a look that should prevent any further movements, but she finds that she just doesn't care. She needs to move, needs to do _something _to unleash the current excitation of her body.

She ignores him.

Tori finds herself fascinated with the teacher's voice. Which is odd. She finds herself easily taking notes, easily following along with what he has to say. Despite his spastic, scattered entrance, he really is a good teacher, one that doesn't speak in monotone or stumble over his words once he gets going with what he is saying.

That still doesn't explain her body's reaction to him.

The class ends far too early for Tori's tastes. She actually feels a longing for the next class meeting when Professor Shapiro dismisses them.

And that is beyond odd.

She shifts her backpack on her arm and rises from her chair. Ignoring the fleeting look Danny gives her, she walks out the door at the back of the room.

She has so much homework, her head is spinning. She has to read chapters for various classes, work on Statistics, and other various things. Tori isn't sure she even has them straightened out in her head. She might have written them down on a piece of paper or something…

"Tori."

A hand grasps her wrist.

She turns around, her eyes widening, and sees Danny. He's looking slightly angry, and she wonders why. It makes no sense for him to be angry at her, why is he looking this way now? She can't recall anything that she did…

"I was trying to talk to you after the teacher dismissed us," he says, nostrils flaring. "But you ignored me."

"Er," she stutters at first. "I - ah - I'm really sorry, Danny. I didn't realize that you were saying anything…"

His eyes are hard.

"H-Hey, now, don't be mad. I was kind of dazed. Overwhelmed by the class." She raises her hands in front of her as if warding off a gun. "I didn't mean to ignore you. It was…unintentional! Really!"

Danny closes his eyes - _good, they were making me feel uncomfortable _- and then opens them. The hardness displayed before is gone, and he places a hand on her stick-thin shoulder.

"Okay, okay," and it's like he's another person. "You're fine. I'm not mad. You wanna go get Starbucks or something now?"

"Um…I…"

"Come on," he says, grinning. "It couldn't hurt anything."

"I don't know…"

Danny grasps her wrist again, lighter this time, not as forceful, and looks at her with those eyes that seem too intense for a moment as mundane as this. It is almost enough to make Tori want to push him from her.

"To make up for ignoring me?"

She knits her eyebrows together. "But you said you weren't worried about that!"

"I lied."

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><p>There is a Starbucks on campus, nestled just adjacent to the college bookstore, and Tori accompanies her boyfriend to the coffee institution without much complaint. She <em>had<em> ignored him, and he didn't deserve that. She figured that she should at least go to Starbucks with him.

A strange inkling settles into her stomach the moment she realizes that she felt like she was forced to go, that she didn't _want _to go in the first place.

What kind of girlfriend doesn't _want _to go places with her boyfriend?

She sighs as they wait in line, one hand twined with Danny's, the other fiddling with her small purse for cash. She looks at Danny, who moves up to the counter to take his order. She already knows his order as well as she knows her own; she can almost recite it with him as he says, "Viente iced caramel macchiato."

Somehow, this rubs her the wrong way.

Tori waits in line and then places her order. A tall skinny vanilla latte. Cheap. She needs to save her money, anyway. She's a college student after all. Even if her parents are supplying her with money at the moment, she needs to save as much as she can to make that last longer.

Danny shoves his hands into his pockets, searching for money. He comes up empty. "Hey, Tor. Can you get this for me?"

Tori looks at him, a feeling of annoyance settling in her chest like a lead weight. She nods, though. What else can she do?

"Eight seventy two," the girl at the counter says.

Tori hands her exactly that, down to the nickel.

_There goes breakfast tomorrow morning… _she thinks despondently.

They walk over to wait at the counter for their beverages. The whole thing has a very familiar feel to it, though she has never been inside this Starbucks before. She takes her hand from Danny's and fiddles around with her purse yet again. She doesn't want to look at him in the eye, and she doesn't know why.

And that's when she hears it.

"Ah, yes. Today… Can I get a grande iced white mocha, please?"

"Of course, Professor."

Tori pauses for a moment, and then turns.

The sight of him is like an intravenous injection of adrenaline. She swallows, not sure how she can keep staring at him like this without him noticing.

As if jinxing herself, Professor Shapiro turns and catches her glance. She tenses up, a cat with its tail being stepped on. He gives her a friendly, familiar smile and turns back to pay the cashier.

And she feels as if her chest will explode.

She hadn't noticed him standing behind her. In fact, they were last in line for a while. How long had he been standing there? What had he seen? Something embarrassing, no doubt…

But why does she _care_?

"Tor." A tug at her hand. "_Tori_. Our drinks are ready."

She starts. Danny's hand is far too tight around her fingers. She stares at him, offended.

"Okay." She glares at him, but he doesn't budge. "_Okay_, Danny. You can let _go_."

He pauses for a moment and then lets her hand drop. Her fingers throb, and she rubs at them with her other hand as if to bring life back into them.

Danny looks angrier than she's seen him look in a long time. It is almost enough to frighten her. "Let's go."

"Okay," she says meekly.

She knows that he has probably realized what has been holding her attention so much lately. She knows that it is her fault that he is so angry. Frankly, she's surprised that Danny has noticed her unexpected reaction, since he's usually so nonchalant about her most of the time.

Despite his anger, as Tori leaves with Danny she forces her gaze back into the coffee shop and tries desperately to fix her eyes on Professor Shapiro.

She succeeds and finds that he is staring back.

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><p><em><strong>End Chapter Two.<strong>_


	3. Innocence

_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own Victorious._

_Thanks so much to everyone that reviewed for the last chapter! It means a lot that everyone is still reading this fic. Good to know that I'm not the sole Rori shipper out there, lol. Anyway, thanks so much for keeping up with this and I hope everyone enjoys this latest update!_

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><p><strong>Tear Down the Veil<br>Chapter Three: Innocence  
><strong>

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><p>Tori stares out the window as she is driven to her apartment. She and Danny rode to school the past two days together, but today there is something different. He is quiet, opting to turn his music louder than she likes. And she thinks <em>his music<em> in the most acrid way possible. _His music _and _her music_ are two different things. The beat grates on her nerves, making them even more frayed than they were before.

She opts to sing along to a more melodic song in her head, something with a pretty beat, something that makes her want to smile. In the middle of her thoughts, she finds a peculiar one emerging, _He never lets me listen to what I want…_

Danny turns the slides his car into the parking spot closest to her particular apartment. Second floor, close to the stairs. Convenient, but not so much so that's she's frightened of getting robbed.

Tori turns to say good night to her boyfriend, but instead she gets a mouth slammed over her own. She cringes, but kisses back. Danny moves a hand and fists it in her hair a bit too tightly. She's not sure what has come over him, but everything about him right now screams _possessive_.

She parts from him as quickly as she can without it hurting his feelings. Her eyes burn into his, and she says, simply, "Good night."

Danny looks at her as if he has never seen her before. "It's not night just yet."

"I know…" she says, feeling the lie on her tongue even before she voices it. "I'm just…tired, is all."

Danny lets out a breath that causes the strands of hair around her cheeks to flutter. His hand dislodges from its now painful grip on her hair. She exhales a grateful break. Sometimes she thinks that Danny is getting impatient with her lack of interest in the physical with him. She knows that he expects…_more_, but she hasn't wanted to give in yet. Something never felt right. Somehow she never feels the easy familiarity that Beck and Jade had with each other, or even with Andre and Cat.

"I have to go," she says. "Homework, and all."

Danny stares at her for a moment. She doesn't like it when he does that. Makes her seem like a bad person for wanting to be alone for a few precious moments. As if making a plea, she presses a palm to his shoulder. "Dinner tomorrow night?"

He seems to like that idea. She regrets it as soon as it leaves her mouth. The price of being a people pleaser, she supposes.

"I'll pick you up at eight?"

"Sounds good," she says.

Tori opens the car door and steps a foot out into the muggy August air. There is something comforting about it, away from the blasting air conditioner in the car. She gives a final look at Danny and waves. He waves back and reverses the car, doesn't even make sure she gets in safe.

She tries to ignore the way that makes her feel.

Tori ventures up the stairs, lugging her heavy backpack along the way. She finds that she can't wait to be rid of it. The thing hurts her back and she doesn't want to complain but _seriously_ they need to invent a more comfortable way of lugging books around for a long period of time.

Putting the key into the lock, Tori finds that she wants to just go to sleep. Knows that isn't possible. Knows that homework is really calling her name. She hadn't lied about that, at least.

She steps through the door and is confronted with a squeal, "Tori! Ohmigosh, come look at this! New shoes, half off! Aren't they just _to die for_? Gahh!"

Normally, this would grate Tori's nerves, but somehow, she finds her sister's preoccupation with something completely trivial completely charming. She gives her a smile and says, "Awesome."

Trina Vega looks at her sister with something akin to surprise. She might be completely loopy and unassuming, but she knows when something is wrong. "Do I need to bring out the ice cream?"

Tori chuckles. If only her feelings could be fixed with a bowl of Rocky Road. She thinks of Danny, of his hands in her hair and yanking too hard and expecting more than he was getting. She thinks of the homework and the tests and the very real possibility of failure. A headache starts to form at the edges of her temples.

"Yeah, actually, I would like some," she relents.

Trina brings out the ice cream while Tori sets to unloading her homework from her bag and placing it on the kitchen table. Trina sets some spoons on the table and sits down at the table. Tori follows suit and then rummages around in her bag for a pencil. She looks up and finds that her sister is staring at her.

"What happened?" Oddly perceptive. Tori's used to seeing Trina as just her silly sister, with no problems other than the fact that she doesn't have enough money to shop for designer items.

Tori shakes her head. Shoves the spoon into the creamy concoction. Writes with her right hand while eating with her left. "Nothing. It's fine," she says around a mouthful of the frozen treat.

"Nooo, it's _no-ot_," Trina singsongs, twirling a spoon in the air. She looks at Tori with an amused look, but then changes it to accommodate the darkness that seems to be spiraling around her as if it were a storm cloud. She lets out a breath through her nose and says, "You can tell me, you know that."

Tori looks over at her, her face confused and pleasantly surprised. "I…I know."

She doesn't end up telling Trina anything. Just that Danny got on her nerves and that her classes were killing her. Trina understands. If anyone knows anything about how boys could be jerks, it was her.

The hours tick by. Soon, it's eight o'clock, and Tori feels tired. Her eyes feel heavy. Her whole _body_ feels heavy. _Must be all the cream, _she thinks sarcastically, wearily. She must be more tired than she thought. A yawn overcomes her.

"Go to sleep, Tor," Trina says, patting her shoulder. "You're more likely to get all of it wrong if you keep on like this."

Tori laughs. She has a point. Which is rare, just like the talk the two of them had had. But, she supposes, things have been weirder. An image of Professor Shapiro flashes through her thoughts, and she remembers just how weird this day had been.

"Do you have a fever, too? Your cheeks are red." Trina's voice is teasing, but concerned at the same time.

"N-No," Tori replies. "I'm fine." She shuts her book and rises from the table. "I think I'm just going to shower and turn in early."

Trina sighs. "Does that mean I have to clean all this up myself?"

Tori gives a little wave and starts to head off to her room. "I do the dishes all the time, Trina."

Groaning melodramatically, Trina sinks down at the table with a vague cry of, "_To-ri_!"

Some things never change, no matter how much leeway one gets when one is down. Tori is happy that Trina listened, though, and feels better that someone listened to her. She was surprised that she told her what happened, but figures that things have been weirder. Usually, she would have kept it to herself, but she's glad she didn't for once.

The shower was something she needed, after all the things that happened today. With Danny's weird behavior and her weird reaction to…well, someone _other than Danny_. Everything was rather confusing and the hot water seemed to make her forget all of those things, as if the confusion and the uncertainty were washed away along with the grim and muck of the day.

She sighs as she lets her hair dry. Ties it back into a ponytail as she flips on the television. The clock reads nine o'clock.

She finds that her tiredness creeps up on her easier now that she's showered and content, with the pleasant humming of the television lulling her into a quick slumber.

And Tori dreams that night, not of the strong and athletic frame of her boyfriend, but of glasses and notebooks and slender hands that she just might like to hold.

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><p><em><strong>End Chapter Three.<strong>_


	4. Shake Me Down

_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own Victorious._

_Thanks so much for your reviews! I am so grateful that y'all are enjoying this story. It's really fun to write. It's something different than my usual stuff, that's for sure. Anyway, I hope that this chapter is well-received. Thanks so much for clicking on this and I hope y'all enjoy!_

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><p><strong>Tear Down the Veil<br>****Chapter Four: Shake Me Down**

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><p>The sunlight shines through Tori's curtains, an unwanted intruder to an unwanted dream. She places a palm over her eyes, groans, and turns over, hating that the sun had stolen the last bits of slumber before her alarm clock took that pleasure.<p>

Rolling over, she sees that she had at least five more minutes to sleep before the alarm would have sounded. She sighs; she could have used those extra few minutes of sleep. Or could not have used them. She isn't sure whether to thank or curse the sunlight, considering her dream had been almost adulterous in nature.

It was strange, the way that the images had assaulted her. They had been innocent at first, just an image of dark hair at first. Followed by notebooks and laughter and a messy apartment. And then it got worse - or better, depending on the viewer. The feel of fingers twined with hers in the dream was so vivid that she thought it was real in waking, and is disappointed when it is not so. However, a few things presented themselves. During the dream, she thought she was holding hands with her boyfriend, but as the images of her subconscious made their way across the made-up world, she realized that it was something very different. The fingers were not sure and confident. They didn't speak of possessiveness, of a man who had what he wanted and was not letting go. These fingers were twined carefully within her own, unusure and fumbling. Clumsy as they tried to knit with her own.

And then Tori remembers looking up into a pair of soft brown eyes, rimmed by dark glasses.

Danny most certainly does not wear glasses.

She groans louder than she intends and flips over, shoving her face into her pillow. Thoughts race through her head, more thoughts than should be possible so early in the morning. Tori wants to press herself into the mattress so completely that the two of them would be unrecognizable from each other. Wants to scream, wants to be invisible. The two war with each other, a testament to irony.

The alarm goes off.

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><p>Her classes start to meld together.<p>

Tori starts to question what she's doing here. What she's actually going to school for. Nothing seems to appeal to her. She goes through books and books of careers, of majors. She meets with the college counselors and yet nothing seems to tempt her. She finds websites about jobs, possible paths for her to take, and yet none call to her.

She finds herself jealous of Cat, of Jade. Of Beck and Andre. Even Danny. They know what they want in their life.

Danny wants to be a lawyer, which isn't surprising if one were to know him. He finds law fascinating, all the tiny minutiae of court, of finding someone guilty or innocent based on someone's performance as their defense or not.

Cat wants to own a daycare center one day, but first she will focus on getting her education degree. She loves children, and they love her. She will be brilliant.

Jade wants to be a writer; strictly horror, she says, like Stephen King, or something epic that will stand the test of time, like Bram Stoker's _Dracula_.

Beck wants to be an actor. There has never been any question about that. He has wanted to star in movies since he saw his first Harrison Ford film.

For Andre, though, it has always been about the music. Teaching it, playing it, making his own albums. Anything involving an instrument and a sheet of music, and he's hooked.

Tori supposes that there should be something...more. She supposes that if she found anything that really called to her she would know it the second it hit her.

But, really, the only thing she can remember loving to the point of obsession was singing.

And she hasn't done that in...well, _forever._

Tori does not know why she thinks of this as she walks to her last class of the day. She isn't even sure where the day had gone. It seems to have slipped through her fingers. Lunch with everyone was nice, she remembers, but Danny's hand had felt a bit tight around her fingers. _Tighter than... _she starts to think, but then dismisses herself. It was only a dream; she should not be thinking of Professor Shapiro in that light. She cannot allow herself the luxury. The fact that she thinks it a luxury is a testament to just how screwed up this situation is.

_Since when is there a situation?_ she thinks.

_Since you dreamed about him,_ a voice in the back of her head replies.

She believes she's going insane. Who dreams of a person the day after they meet them? A crazy person. And who converses with themself about said dream-person? A crazy person.

Though Tori does not know what she wants to do with her life, she knows she does not want to spend it in an institution.

Clouds are starting to overtake the sun. Big, dark clouds, heavy with unshed rain. She groans for what seems like the millionth time that day. What a time to forget an umbrella. The air around her even smells like an oncoming storm.

Tori turns around a corner and then realizes she is lost.

"But," she finds herself spluttering, uncaring that she's talking to herself. _Like a crazy person. _"I found my way just fine on the first day - "

She guesses that daydreaming has resulted in this...

Tori tilts her head, as if trying to peer over the building she is in front of, just to see to the other side. The campus is huge, and she should have taken the map the second day. It was foolish to think that she would have the campus layout down by the first fledging days of class. Especially at such a large university.

The sky rumbles.

"No...no, no, no," she says, moaning. "This can't be happening."

She starts to rush, hurrying herself. Takes out her phone and checks the time. Ten minutes to get to class. Ten minutes until Tori Vega decides to just self-destruct altogether.

Thin fingers wind around the strap of her backpack. She closes her eyes tightly, as if willing the building to come to her, and then lets out a breath through her nose. The building she has stopped in front of towers over her, wrong and alluring at the same time. She can go in and ask for help. That won't take long, will it?

_Better than nothing, _she thinks as the first raindrops hit the sidewalk.

She swings the door open. Five seconds after she steps in the building, the bottom falls out.

Tori leans her head back and stares up at the ceiling and groans, her arms dangling by her sides limply. Useless.

She forgoes her pity party and immediately starts looking for someone to talk to. Someone to steer her in the right direction.

It is then she realizes she is in the psychology building.

_No, no, no, _she internally repeats her mantra from before. This is possibly the worst place for her to be. How she even got to it is beyond her. Certainly she should have remembered the way to the psychology building, considering her reaction to her stupid, stupid professor yesterday.

She rams her palms into her eyes.

"Uh...um..." a voice stammers. It is familiar, though she has not heard it as many times as she would have thought. "Do you need help?"

Tori turns and of course, there is Professor Shapiro. The last person she needs to see. She hates to imagine what Danny would do if he saw her talking to her professor like this, especially when she remembers how he acted yesterday.

But...she does need help. No matter how much she does not want - _need _- to see him, she does need help in getting to her class.

She allows a smile to cross her face, trying to seem friendly and not like a child. "I'm lost."

He smiles at her and runs a hand over his wild hair. Her eyes linger on his fingers, remembering her dream from earlier, and then cursing herself for it. She looks away, not wanting to be caught, especially not when she feels a blush starting to form on her cheeks.

"Where do you need to...ah...go?" he asks, helpful and concerned and looking at her with those intelligent, clueless eyes of his.

"I have Marine Biology in..." She takes out her phone and looks at the time again. "...six minutes."

Professor Shapiro's lips twitch as if he has just realized her luck. Tori tries not to focus on them.

"Oh, uh, well," he starts. "Go out that door and then take a left until you get to the water fountain. Then take a right. It's the giant building with _Science Tower_ written on it."

Embarrassment floods through her veins. "Oh...thank you, Professor."

She turns to the door, and then sets her sights on the downpour that is taking place outside. Professor Shapiro clears his throat next to her. Tori turns and sees him offering her a dripping wet umbrella, open even inside. Andre would have a fit at the bad luck. "You can use this - "

"Oh, no, oh I couldn't. You might need it later..." Not to mention all the questions that would follow.

He shrugs, an affable smile coming onto his face. "Nah. Most likely I'll be cooped up in here all day, trying to settle in."

_Does that mean he's new?_ she wants to ask, but she can't. She can't allow herself to show more interest than is appropriate.

"Besides, I think it's probably a bit criminal, allowing you out into that without a way to protect yourself," he says, a laughing edge to his voice. It sounds a bit nervous and a bit neurotic, but Tori is almost hypnotized by it. He shoves the umbrella out to meet one of her hands. She hadn't even realized she had reached for it. It is still wet, and she wonders just when he came in here. Couldn't have been a few minutes after she did, unless it rained early this morning as well...

She forces herself to stop thinking about it.

"Thank you so much!" she exclaims, fighting back the urge to hug him. That would have been wholly inappropriate. "I'll...ah..."

"Just give it back to me tomorrow before class," he mentions offhandedly.

But that means...he noticed her in class yesterday. He knows that she takes his class. Tori had always been told that college professors were uncaring about their students. They were just a number on their paycheck at the end of the day, but...he _noticed _her.

Again, she tries to ignore it. It probably means nothing.

"O-Okay...will do," she says, determined. Tori then turns on a heel and tries to make her way to the door, but not before his voice stops her dead in her tracks, almost making her slip in the puddle of water that had accumulated from the umbrella.

"Marine Biology?" he asks, a strange hint of amused intrest in his voice.

Tori flushes. _He wants an explanation?_ She doesn't look back at him, fearful of what she might feel if she sees his face one more time. "I...ah...like the ocean!" she calls before thrusting herself out into the storm.

She doesn't hear his vague laugh as she leaves.

The storm is worse than she thought. The rain is coming in at an angle, soaking the front of her jeans and her top. She can only think that she was lucky enough to not wear that white shirt she had picked out today, and had gone in favor of a silky blue top. She tries to run the best she can, holding the umbrella as if it is an anchor, but...well, it's not a match for the wind. Strong and unforgiving, the gusts of wind take the umbrella and turn it inside out, effectively ruining it. One of the spokes comes off in the process.

Tori thinks she might just die.

There is nothing she can do at this point but run. She made it to the water fountain before umbrella-gate happened, and now she turns right. She sees the Science Tower - _what a name_ - and runs as fast as she can. She at least remembers how to get to the room. Third floor, room 305. It has pictures of seaturtles on the door. Loggerheads, she thinks.

_I like seaturtles _would have been a more accurate description as to why she wanted to take this class.

Soaking wet and hating everything about this day, she looks down at the piece of equipment that used to be an umbrella. She supposes she looks comical as she enters the room, which is already filled with the members of the class who haven't dropped it. She hears Jade snicker from the back, and her embarrassment grows.

Her shoes squelch with water as she makes her way back to her seat next to Jade, who is laughing unapologetically. Tori sits down beside her and throws her backpack on the floor. It, too, gives a sound associated with waterlog. The broken umbrella follows. The teacher of this class - a man in his fifties who looks like Captain Ahab himself, minus the leg-missing thing - gives her a look that makes her blood run cold and starts lecturing.

Jade turns and whispers at Tori, "Geez, Vega. It's _raining_ out there." Her lips stretch into a sharp grin, and Tori now remembers why Jade even agreed to take this with her. _Sharks._

"I know..." she mumbles in reply, looking at the dead umbrella.

The thought, which was just an idle one in passing, causes her to snap to attention.

She rubs her eyes with her fingers.

_I'm going to have to buy Professor Shapiro a new umbrella, _she thinks numbly, and then is taken away into the lecture, in which they study plankton.

She feels about as small as one, right now.

* * *

><p><em><strong>End Chapter Four.<strong>_


	5. Shop Around

_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own Victorious._

_Thanks so much for the reviews for the last chapter! It means so much that y'all are enjoying the fic. I hope that everyone likes this update!_

* * *

><p><strong>Tear Down the Veil<br>****Chapter Five: Shop Around**

* * *

><p>The local Target is packed.<p>

Tori finds herself feeling claustrophobic as she puts her car in park. The rain has turned into a slight drizzle, which is a relief. Not that she has an umbrella to help with that anyway. She sighs as she runs a hand through her hair. Hopefully she would be able to find an umbrella that looked just like the one Professor Shapiro lended her, and there would be no questions asked.

She was, at least, able to ditch Danny. She isn't sure why this brings her a sense of contentment or relief, but it does, and she feels horrible for it.

"Tori! Can I get a popsicle?"

But she wasn't able to ditch Cat.

She feels better, though, that at least she has one of her friends with her.

Tori steps out of the car, followed by Cat stepping out of the passenger's side. She looks at her red haired friend and says, "You know you don't have to ask me about those types of things, right?"

"Kay, kay!" she chirps.

Tori rolls her eyes and starts to walk to the store. As if it were a bag of stones, she can feel the weight of the money in her purse. It is almost symbolic.

The sliding doors hardly open for her, but eventually she steps through them and into the store, feeling that vague sense of nostalgia that always came with entering a familiar place. She had been here so many times since college started that she was surprised everyone didn't know her by name. Cat comes in after her, bumping into her back before realizing Tori had stopped.

"Ouch," she says, clenching her red hair. "_Tori_..."

"Sorry, Cat," she apologizes quickly, clapping her on the shoulder. "Let's go."

The two of them walk down to the place where the umbrellas are. Cat hadn't asked for details as to why Tori suddenly needed an umbrella, and for that Tori was grateful. She didn't want to explain what all happened, anyway, since she was so unsure about her feelings in the first place.

Besides, the whole thing was completely embarrassing.

Tori looks at the umbrellas as if they are particularly interesting. None of them really match the one that Professor Shapiro had given her, but she has to make due with what she is presented. She ends up plucking a black umbrella from the pack. Neutral. A good color.

_It's not like I've picked him a pink one,_ she thinks idly.

Tori holds the umbrella tightly against her chest as she steps away from the selection of items. She looks around for Cat, but finds that she is not there.

"Cat!" she exclaims worriedly, her voice frantic. She feels almost like the mother of a kidnapped child, when she knows perfectly well that Cat often wanders off like this. And returns. And then wanders off again.

She rushes out into the open aisle, looking about and then, from a ways away, she sees Cat marching towards her with a box of colorful popsicles in her hands, a grin on her face.

Tori rolls her eyes as Cat skips up to her.

But, for a moment, she finds relief in the fact that some things never change.

* * *

><p>The moments leading up to Professor Shapiro's class are more tense than Tori would like.<p>

She wrings her hands more often, feels her heart constrict at even the slightest thought of what she might say to him. It is ridiculous, the amount of stress she is putting herself through just because she had to give her teacher a new umbrella. Which, really, is a ridiculous situation all around.

Tori sighs as she makes her way to her seat, Danny at her heels. He hasn't left her alone as of late, opting to be as attached to her as possible. Though originally she would have thought she would like being the center of his world, but now she finds it more suffocating, especially when she is not sure of his true motives.

Really, she's not sure of much anymore.

Tori takes a seat, both anxious and excited at the same time. She opts to tap her foot in the minutes between their arrival and when Professor Shapiro arrives.

"We're pretty early to class, Tor," Danny's voice breaks the nervous quiet.

She starts and then turns to look at him. "Erm...well, it's never a bad thing to be early."

Danny looks at her as if he doesn't believe her.

She doesn't blame him; she doesn't even believe herself.

A few minutes pass and some of their fellow classmates file in. Tori recognizes some familiar faces, but others she realize are absent. Most likely due to them dropping the class. Not unheard of, of course.

Tori opens her notebook and places a pen atop the stack of paper before leaning forward, resting an elbow on the table in front of her and sighing.

Her free hand is quickly enveloped by Danny's.

She doesn't know why, but she wants to pull away. She doesn't though. She can't. It would be untoward of her to do that, and besides...Danny is her boyfriend. That's what significant others do. They hold hands. They kiss. They tell each other how much they care...

Tori bites her lip to keep from screaming.

A few minutes late - Tori thinks this may be a thing of his - Professor Shapiro arrives. She feels the hairs on the back of her neck stand up as he passes her and heads to the front of the class. Her heart gives a small little leap as she feels the slight brush of wind as he breezes past.

Danny squeezes her hand tighter.

"Alright!" Professor Shapiro exclaims once he reaches the head of the room. He quickly opens his laptop and gets everything set up for his powerpoint presentation on the next portion of the chapter. "Everyone doing okay today?"

There is a moment in which the class mumbles something vaguely.

The professor laughs affably, and says, "Alright, alright. Anyway, turn in your books to where we left off..."

And he starts talking. Tori hangs on every word, scribbling down notes, enraptured despite herself and unabashed about it at this point. She pries her fingers from Danny, because - really - she will not be one of those girls that holds their boyfriend's hand during the entire class period when they should be paying attention.

Terms and definitions and little anecdotes make their way onto her paper in her loopy scrawl. Page after page, while Danny writes nothing. He's always been an auditory learner, though she can't help but think he might not be writing anything out of anger at her...

She thinks she might be a bit paranoid, as well.

Sighing, the lecture closes up faster than anything. Tori thinks that it may be because she particularly enjoys this class more than her other ones. The ones she dislikes drag on for what seems like an eternity, and the one that she actually enjoys flies by like the oddest of lapses.

Danny leans to her as Professor Shapiro starts flipping through his powerpoints in a frenzied manner - it seems he's forgotten one, one that he just misplaced and promises to the class that he will "email it to everyone later."

Tori tries not to think about how intimate it feels, to even _imagine _receiving an email from him, and then chides herself for her childishness.

Professor Shapiro starts to flip through the book, going through pages and pages of psychology, case studies and conditioning and child attachment. The basics of the first few weeks of class. He purses his lips, Tori can see this even from how far back she's seated, and she feels her heart do a funny little leap. She supposes she's never been that good with hiding things - emotions, facial expressions. She's not as good at monitoring her bodily reactions to stimuli, not like Jade. Not like Beck.

_Maybe that's why they're so perfect for one another... _Tori thinks nonsensically.

As Professor Shapiro continues to teach, Danny's hand brushes against her leg. Tori tenses, and then curses herself for it. She should not be reacting to her boyfriend's touches as if they were electric shocks that were akin to torture. She feels Danny's eyes on her, burning into her, angry and self-important.

She doesn't meet his eyes.

The class concludes, but the tension doesn't leave her body even as those words leave the professor's mouth.

Danny rises from his seat while Tori stays stationary. He looks at her quizzically. "What are you doing?"

Tori gets up from her seat and then looks at Danny. "I have to talk to the teacher about something, is all." She really hopes he doesn't catch on to the breathy way she said _the teacher._ "I'll meet you at Starbucks after?"

Danny gives her a suspicious look and then nods before departing, slinging his backpack over his shoulder in an almost passive aggressive way and then storming out the door.

Tori sighs as she gathers her things together. Her heart is beating faster and faster, something that is both surprising and unsurprising at the same time. She shoves her books into her backpack and then drags out the plastic Target bag containing the new umbrella before looking up and meeting Professor Shapiro's eyes. He is talking to some other student at this moment - a blonde wearing a short skirt - but his eyes never stray down her legs or anywhere other than her eyes.

And sometimes, he looks in her direction.

Tori doesn't think too much into it. He was probably just checking that she was there and not going to steal his umbrella or anything. He didn't care that she was in the same room or anything. It was just at tick. A nervous tick. She assumes that he has a few, like everyone does.

The blonde turns and leaves, a grin on her face as she passes Tori.

Leaving the two of them alone.

Swallowing in determination, Tori begins the walk to the front of class.

Professor Shapiro is starting to gather his things together, closing his laptop and turning off the overhead projector. He looks up and stares at Tori as she walks toward him, his large brown eyes kind in his face.

"What can I do you for?" he asks, standing up a few papers and straightening them before placing them in his messenger bag. His eyes never leave her face.

Saying nothing, Tori presents him the bag.

Blinking, Professor Shapiro takes it in his hands and looks inside. His smile widens. "An umbrella?"

"Um..." she starts, feeling dumb and foolish and hating everything. "I kind of...killed your other one..."

He smiles at her phrase. "I doubt that. The wind was pretty bad yesterday."

"I'm sorry," she says.

He raises a hand. "No problem. These things happen."

"Right..." she trails off. "But...um...sorry."

The professor hands her the bag back. "Here. I can't take this. You didn't have an umbrella, right? So maybe you need this?"

"But...I broke yours."

He presses the bag into her hand, fingers briefly touching her palm, filling her bones with an electric charge. "I'm not going to take your money."

"It's not money, it's an umbrella."

Professor Shapiro laughs then, the sound pleasing. "Thank you, though. I never expect the things some students do. It's rather pleasant to have one that cares so much."

Tori feels her cheeks flare red, her fingers fiddling with the plastic straps of the bag.

He then leans forward, his smile all-encompassing and his voice hush-hush. "I can tell you one thing, as thanks. Pop quiz next class on everything we've covered. But you didn't hear that from me."

Tori nods stiffly, feeling as if her body was made of wood. "Th-Thank you..."

"I'll see you next class," he says kindly, giving her a wink.

"Yeah..." she says. "See you then."

On wobbling knees, Tori makes her way out of the room, filled with more questions than ever before.

* * *

><p><em><strong>End Chapter Five.<strong>_


	6. Hold On

_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own Victorious._

_Thanks so much for the reviews for the last chapter! I really appreciate them. It means so much that people are enjoying this fic. I'm so sorry that it's taken so long for this sixth chapter to get out, but I hope that everyone likes it! This fic is just a really fun one to write, so yeah. Haha. Please enjoy! _

* * *

><p><strong>Tear Down the Veil<strong>  
><strong>Chapter Six: Hold On<strong>

* * *

><p>Tori sits at the Starbucks, the cup of blonde roast coffee warming her hands. Though she needn't have turned to the coffee cup for warmth - she was feeling that all on her own, and from a most unexpected source.<p>

Or, completely and utterly expected, if her reactions to him were anything to go by.

She waits for Danny to get there. Really, he should have been there before she got there, since he left class before she had her..._encounter_ with Professor Shapiro.

Maybe she didn't specify _when _to meet her? She had said after, but maybe he didn't know when exactly _after_ was. She purses her lips and runs a finger along the outside of the coffee cup. Tori doesn't really know what to think at this point. She's been waiting for about thirty minutes, and yet there is still no sign of her boyfriend.

Inhaling deeply, she closes her eyes and tries to clear her mind.

Professor Shapiro's face greets her.

Her eyes flare open and she has the urge to pour the scalding beverage over her head, as if that would be enough to jolt her back to reality. _This is ridiculous, _she thinks. _Why is this even happening? It makes no sense..._

Because, in all actuality, it really _doesn't _make sense.

That thought has crossed her mind so many times since she first was faced with this professor, the one who has a stranglehold on her thoughts, it seems. All with a smile on his face and the most basic, kind gestures one could make. She tries to make some kind of logical explanation for all of the odd activity that has been going on with her lately, but finds nothing.

_Maybe it's just a passing thing?_

Tori remembers when Beck's best friend Moose came into town last summer. Tall, handsome, athletic, on a full-ride sports scholarship to a college in Canada. She, Jade, and Cat had practically gone nuts - within reason, of course. They had all been dating their respective others at the time. But it had soon passed when the novelty of Moose wore off as he stayed the entire summer. He ended up leaving at the end of the summer and though they brought him up at times, jokingly referring to him as _hottest guy ever_, it was blatant that they no longer were like wild animals around him...

But this was different.

Tori starts to think about her past romances, past crushes. The list wasn't as long as some people's, but it was long enough. Flashes of Ryder Daniels paraded through her mind. Her first real boyfriend, attractive and kind - supposedly. The whole thing ended badly, of course. He cheated on her with Hayley Ferguson and left her a mess for weeks - only Jade smacking her across the face and telling her that, _"Damn it, you're hot! Stop worrying about that troll-looking douchebag and get out there and break some hearts yourself!" _had gotten her out of it.

Then there was the thing with Andre. Best friends for what seemed like forever, the two of them went out on a date, kissed, and then promptly freaked out because it was like kissing a family member. They amicably split after that, and remained best friends to this day, obviously.

Thinking back on all of them, there were only three, including Danny - whom she had dated the longest by far. Though there were only three people, she had spent a great deal of time with Ryder and Danny - and she and Andre had talked quite a bit before he eventually asked her out.

But none of that felt quite like what she was experiencing with her professor.

Cheeks flaring at mentally calling him _her professor_, she takes a swig of her coffee. It burns the roof of her mouth, but she perseveres, enjoying the rich taste. She presses a hand to her forehead and leans over the table, looking out the wall of glass that divides the Starbucks from the rest of the building. She feels exposed, but isn't completely bothered by it.

Then she spots him.

Danny's in the main lobby area talking to - _speak of the devil_ - Ryder Daniels. And, of course, on his arm is Hayley Ferguson. A faint twinge of bitterness tugs at her, but she pushes it away. Danny holds a coffee cup in one hand, having already gotten his Starbucks obviously. Ryder says something and claps him on the shoulder; Danny throws his head back and laughs. He has yet to notice her.

And then he turns and walks out the door, Ryder's arm around his shoulders.

Tori is shocked for a moment. She feels her mouth fall open. Staring for a second at the space where Danny used to be, she ponders what exactly she has been doing. Has her...infatuation been this obvious? So obvious as to make Danny so..._pissed off_? Her fingers feel numb as she pulls her phone out of her pocket and starts to text him, only to find that he's texted her first.

_Going to Nozu with Ry and Hayley. Waited for you. Feel free to join._

His short sentences feel disconnected, unconcerned. Tori stares at the text for a bit, a slight prick of anger stabbing her where it hurts. He knows just what happened between she and Ryder - hell, the whole school knew when it happened, due to Hayley's large mouth - and she grits her teeth as she clenches her phone so tightly in her hand she feels it should crumble due to the pressure.

So her text is simple and to the point: _I was sitting in Starbucks and saw you leave with them. I can't go to Nozu, sorry. I have homework. See you later?_

She only adds the last question because otherwise the text felt rather catty to her. At this point, she could care less if she sees him later. The anger builds and builds and when she gets the response to her text - one letter: _K_ - she is so angry that she slams the phone down and bites back several choice curse words.

"What's the matter, Cheekbones?"

Tori starts at the nickname - once an insult, now a term of endearment - and sees Jade standing in front of her, an amused and taunting smile on her features as she holds a viente black coffee in her hands. Obviously, she can't see the beverage for sure, but she knows Jade and she knows that she likes her coffee black - _"Like my soul,"_ she likes to comment when asked - and always orders accordingly.

Tori sighs and gives Jade what she feels must be an exasperated smile. "Nothing..."

"Boy problems," Jade guesses correctly.

Tori sighs and runs a hand through her hair.

"Cat and I were thinking about going shopping later on," Jade says, cringing very delicately for someone with her general demeanor. Tori finds that she wants to laugh at it all. "Coming?"

Tori inhales a bit, reason warring with the desire to spend a few bucks on some random outfit with her two best friends. After what seems to be too short of an amount of time to rationally weigh her options, she relents.

"Good," Jade says, ruffling Tori's hair a bit painfully. The brunette winces as she swats the pale hands of her friend away from her head.

"Jaaade!" Cat skips up, a girly looking frappuchino in one hand. She sees Tori and smiles wider than Tori had ever seen. "Is Tori coming too?"

"You bet," Tori says, and Cat's responding grin is bright.

"But first..." Jade snatches Tori's phone and takes out the battery, placing the battery in her pocket and giving Tori back the phone.

"Hey!"

"Trust me," Jade says, and more frightening words had never been spoken. "This will help."

Tori has no argument there.

* * *

><p>Tori holds a red dress in front of her, staring hopelessly in the mirror. It is a frilly thing, flowy and lacy and girlish, stopping just below the knees. She frowns at it a bit, deep in thought, before holding up the blue dress. This one is tight, form-fitting, with a plunging neckline and stopping above the knees. She gives a sudden little laugh as she realizes that this could be something out of a vapid teen movie. The girl, trying to choose between dresses. Her friends, giving her advice on the matter.<p>

Except, well...

Jade was munching on a corndog, propping her black combat boots on top of one of the sets of neatly folded clothes out for display. One of the employees glares daggers at her before stomping over and trying to tell her to stop. To which, Jade just grins in a sharklike manner, gesticulating with her corndog. The employee runs off in tears.

And Cat was frolicking around, a bright smile on her face. Everything in her hands was pink - pink shirts, pink dresses, pink camisole, pink leggings. Different shades of pink, sure, but still, it makes Tori smile to herself, wondering if the color scheme was intentional or not.

Jade waltzes up, looking at the two choices with her usual air of contempt. "So...you either want to be a twelve-year-old girl or a lady of the night."

"_Hey_!" Tori objects, her voice seeming to rise five octaves. She hugs the dresses protectively to her chest.

Jade snatches the dresses from her hands and throws them on the floor. There is a gasp and an angered mutter coming from the employee from before, but Jade ignores it. She randomly grabs a dress off the rack nearest her and shoves it in front of Tori's thin frame. It's black, made of a slinky material that shows the curves but isn't as suffocating-looking as the blue dress. Tori immediately starts to ask if Jade just wanted to see her in black, but the dress does look rather nice against her skin, and she doesn't see anything wrong with it -

"Okay," Tori says, taking the dress. "I'll try this one on too."

"Good choice." Jade's grin is practically criminal.

* * *

><p>Tori arrives home later that evening, later than she intended. The bags on her arm weigh her left side down, making it difficult to climb the stairs to her apartment, but she doesn't mind. The day had been a welcome distraction from everything. Shopping and a movie and a day out with her friends...it had been just what the doctor ordered - or, well, Jade, but still...<p>

She unlocks the door to her apartment and sees that Trina is there, sitting on the couch watching some _Lifetime_ movie. Her sister looks at her accusingly as soon as she sees the bags on her arms. "You went shopping _without _me?"

Tori shrugs. "I'm sorry. It was kind of a random thing."

"I thought you had to save your money."

"There was a sale..." Tori trails off. "And who are you to talk to me about saving money?" She smiles.

"Good point."

Tori moves to go to her room, but Trina stops her. "What? You're not going to show me what you bought?"

Tori relents, showing her the purple skinny jeans, the denim skinny jeans, the lacy white top, the white-and-gold jacket, the black ballet flats, the new pair of fuzzy socks (because she couldn't resist), and the black dress.

Trina holds up the black dress. "Oooh, this is pretty. Doesn't look like anything you usually wear, though."

Tori shrugs, thinking of Jade. "I guess everyone needs a little black dress."

"True that."

Tori decides to spend the rest of the night watching movies with her sister instead of doing homework, but every now and then her eyes wander over to the black dress, where it is hanging on her room's doorframe.

Subconsciously, she wonders if Professor Shapiro would like it.

* * *

><p><em><strong>End Chapter Six.<strong>_


End file.
